Sitting device for prevention of spinal diseases

ABSTRACT

A sitting device for prevention of spinal diseases comprises a padded member, a thin pad extended forwardly from the padded member, and a hard block fully inserted inside the padded member. The padded member has a generally right triangular shape, and is made of resilient materials. The hypotenuse surface of the padded member is undulating ergonomically. The hard block is made of a non-resilient material, and is able to tolerate, without rupturing, the gravity force on a mass of an adult&#39;s body with a shape and size similar to those of the adult&#39;s buttocks. The hard block is inserted completely inside the right angle area of the padded member. The height of the front side of the hard block is greater than the distance from the lowest point of the sitter&#39;s coccyx to the lowest point of his tuberosity of ischium. Both the padded member and the hard block have a flat bottom side to ensure stability.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sitting device used for sitting onflat surfaces and that device is able to prevent spinal diseases, suchas cervical, thoracic, and lumbar diseases, to occur.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wrong sitting postures lead to many spinal diseases. Sitting in acorrect posture means keeping the pelvis in its neutral position, i.e.in the same of its position when a person is standing. When the pelvisis in a neutral position, they allows the spine to stay in its naturalcurve, meaning the whole body weight is distributed and balanced evenlyupon the vertebrates and discs of the spine. As a result, spinaldiseases are less likely to happen. However, when sitting on flatsurfaces, such as the floor, it is very hard to always sit in a correctposture and it is even harder to do so without any supporting devices;the pelvis tilts forwards or backwards, causing back pain due toexcessive pressure and muscle imbalances that occur with pelvic tiltabnormalities. Over time, sitting in wrong postures leads to many spinaldiseases such as cervical, thoracic, and lumbar diseases. As a result,the person experiences back, neck and joint pain, tension-headaches,fatigue and stress related conditions, and many other health problems.

In fact, many people have to sit on flat surfaces, such as on the floor,for a long time due to different reasons; for example, to do their work,to meditate, or to attend religious sessions. Without any supportingdevice, they soon experience back pain and commonly encounter one orsome of the spinal diseases mentioned above.

Many devices have been invented to provide support when sitting on flatsurfaces. However, they do not provide stable support that keeps thepelvis always in its neutral position, the key to sitting in a correctposture. Zafus is one of those. Stuffed with fluffy, soft, downymaterials, a zafu raises the hips and partially absorbs the reactionforce generated by the floor under the gravity force of the body of asitter, making sitting in a leg-folding posture or the crossed-leggedposture, a.k.a. Lotus sitting posture, more comfortable. However, due tothe fluffy materials used, a zafu does not provide a stable support; thesitter's pelvis can tilt forwards and backwards freely, eventuallycausing back pain and other spinal problems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,807discloses an adjustable height pillow that can “encourage proper sittingpositions.” However, the pillow is stuffed with a soft flexiblematerial, therefore cannot provide a stable support to keep the pelvisalways in its neutral position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,983 presents asit/sleep constructed pillow that can provide comfort when sitting onit. However, it also does not provide stable support that can keep thepelvis in its neutral position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It shows that there is a need to invent a device used for sitting onflat surfaces. That sitting device must provide stable support thatkeeps a sitter's pelvis always in its neutral position, allowing thesitter to stay in a correct sitting posture. The sitting device,therefore, is able to prevent many spinal diseases related to wrongsitting postures including cervical, thoracic, and lumbar diseases. Itis an object of the present invention to provide such a sitting device.

According to the invention, the sitting device comprises a paddedmember, a thin pad extended forwardly from the padded member, and a hardblock fully inserted inside the padded member. Looked from the left orthe right side, the padded member has a generally right triangularshape, and is made of resilient materials such as foam, rubber, orcotton to make the device comfortable to sit on. The hypotenuse surfaceof the padded member is undulating ergonomically to ensure extra comfortfor the sitter. The area of the hypotenuse surface of the padded membertogether with the area of the thin pad is wider than the total area of asitter's buttocks, upper legs, and knees, so that the sitter can sit, ina leg-folding posture, fully on the sitting device without any part ofhis body touching the flat surface. The hard block is made of anon-resilient material such as wood, polystyrene foam, or hard rubber.The hard block is able to tolerate, without rupturing, the gravity forceon a mass of an adult's body with a shape and size similar to those ofthe adult's buttocks. The hard block is inserted completely inside theright angle area of the padded member. The height of the front side ofthe hard block is greater than the distance from the lowest point of thesitter's coccyx to the lowest point of his tuberosity of ischium. Boththe padded member and the hard block have a flat bottom side to ensurestability.

To use the sitting device properly, a sitter needs to sit in aleg-folding sitting posture; in which, his buttocks are on top of thehighest portion of the padded member, his upper legs lie along thehypotenuse surface of the padded member, and both of his left and rightlower legs must rest inside the thin pad and fold along the long side ofthe thin pad and the right one is on top of the left one. Instead, thesitter can also sits in a cross-legged sitting posture a.k.a. Lotussitting posture. Importantly, the sitter needs to adjust his buttocks sothat his sacrum and coccyx are elevated by the top part of the hardblock, and his ischium stays close to the front side of the hard block.That way, his pelvis is always “locked” in its neutral position, makingthe sitter sit in a correct posture which prevents spinal diseasesrelated to wrong sitting postures including cervical, thoracic, andlumbar diseases to occur. If there were no hard block inserted insidethe padded member as described, the sitter's pelvis would tilt freely,leading to wrong sitting postures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood when consideration is given tothe following detailed description thereof. Such description makesreference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a left perspective view of a sitting device for prevention ofspinal diseases according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a right perspective view of the sitting device shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sitting device of FIG. 1 alongthe line A-A′ shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the sitting device of FIG. 1 alongthe line B-B′ shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 5 illustrates how to use the pillow of FIG. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a sitting device that is used for sittingon flat surfaces. The sitting device is able to keep a sitter in acorrect sitting posture by keeping his pelvis always in its neutralposition.

According to the invention, the sitting device 100, as shown in FIG. 1,comprises a padded member 200, a thin pad 300 extended forwardly fromthe padded member 200, and a hard block 400 fully inserted inside thepadded member 200. Looked from the left side 202L, indicated in FIG. 1,or the right side 202R, indicated in FIG. 2, the padded member 200 has agenerally right triangular shape, and is made of resilient materialssuch as foam, rubber, or cotton to make the device 100 comfortable tosit on. The hypotenuse surface 201 of the padded member 200 isundulating ergonomically to ensure extra comfort for the sitter. Thearea of the hypotenuse surface 201 of the padded member 200 togetherwith the area of the thin pad 300 is wider than the total area of asitter's buttocks, upper legs, and knees, so that the sitter can sitfully on the sitting device 100 without any part of his body touchingthe flat surface. The hard block 400 is made of a non-resilient materialsuch as wood, polystyrene foam, or hard rubber. The hard block 400 isable to tolerate, without rupturing, the gravity force on a mass of anadult's body with a shape and size similar to those of the adult'sbuttocks. The hard block 400 is inserted completely inside the rightangle area of the padded member 200. The height H, indicated in FIG. 3,of the front side 403 of the hard block 400, is greater than thedistance from the lowest point of the sitter's coccyx to the lowestpoint of his tuberosity of ischium. Both the padded member 200 and thehard block 400 have a flat bottom side to ensure stability.

To use the sitting device 100 properly, a sitter needs to sit in aleg-folding sitting posture in which, his buttocks are on top of thehighest portion T, indicated in FIG. 3, of the padded member 200, hisupper legs lie along the hypotenuse surface 201 of the padded member200, and both of his left and right lower legs must rest inside the thinpad 300 and fold along the long side L, indicated in FIG. 2, of the thinpad 300, and the right one is on top of the left one. Instead, thesitter can also sits in a cross-legged sitting posture a.k.a. Lotussitting posture. Importantly, the sitter needs to adjust his buttocks sothat his sacrum is elevated by the highest area 401, his coccyx rests onthe plateau area 402, and his ischium stays close to the front side 403of the hard block 400. That way, his pelvis is always “locked” in itsneutral position, making the sitter sit in a correct posture whichprevents spinal diseases related to wrong sitting postures includingcervical, thoracic, and lumbar diseases to occur. If there were no hardblock 400 inserted inside the padded member 200 as described, thesitter's pelvis would tilt freely, leading to wrong sitting postures.

1. (canceled)
 2. (canceled)
 3. A sitting device for prevention of spinaldiseases comprising: a padded member having a width, a flat bottom, arearward portion having a height, a forward portion having a height lessthan the height of the rearward portion, and an undulating upperhypotenuse surface running from the rearward portion downwardly to theforward portion; a thin pad having width, and a length extendedforwardly from the forward portion of the padded member, the width andlength of the thin pad being selected such that that a sitter can sit ina leg-folding posture fully on the hypotenuse surface of the paddedmember and the thin pad without touching a surface upon which thesitting device is placed; and a hard block made of a non-resilientmaterial located inside the rearward portion of the padded member, thehard block having a width substantially equal to the width of the paddedmember, a top surface of the hard block having a highest area having aheight T at a rear side of the hard block, a flat bottom, and a plateauarea having a height H at a front side of the hard block, the height Hof the plateau area being less than the height T of the highest area,the height H of the plateau area being selected to be greater than adistance from a lowest point of an adult sitter's coccyx to a lowestpoint of the adult sitter's tuberosity of ischium; such that when asitter is sitting with the sitter's buttocks on the hypotenuse surfaceof the padded member with the sitter's sacrum over the highest area ofthe hard block, and with the sitter's folded legs on the thin pad, thesitter's coccyx rests on the plateau area of the top surface of the hardblock, and the sitter's ischium is held adjacent to the front side ofthe hard block.
 4. The sitting device of claim 3, in which thenon-resilient material of the hard block is selected from a groupconsisting of wood, polystyrene foam, and hard rubber.
 5. The sittingdevice of claim 3, in which the non-resilient material of the hard blockis selected such that the hard block can support the mass of an adult'sbody without rupturing.
 6. The sitting device of claim 3, in which thehard block has a flat bottom.
 7. The sitting device of claim 3, in whichthe padded member has a generally right triangular shape from the side.8. The sitting device of claim 3, in which the hypotenuse surface of thepadded member has an ergonomically undulating contour which stepsdownward in height from a highest portion at the rearward portion of thepadded member to a plateau portion, a concave middle portion, to alowest height at the forward portion.
 9. The sitting device of claim 3,in which the padded member is made of resilient material.
 10. Thesitting device of claim 9, in which the resilient material of the paddedmember is selected from a group consisting of foam, rubber, and cotton.11. The sitting device of claim 3, in which the padded member has a flatbottom.